Technical Field
This invention relates generally to gloves. More particularly this invention relates to gloves used in the food processing industry. Specifically, this invention relates to a color-coded system for gloves for use in food processing plants, which system aids in the identification of a processing area of a plant in which a glove failure has occurred.
Background Information
Workers who come into direct contact with foodstuffs in food processing facilities are required to wear gloves. Typically these gloves are fabricated from nitrile, latex or some similar material. During use gloves are frequently damaged. The damage may occur through a worker accidentally cutting a glove with a knife or coming into contact with a sharp object, such as a bone in meat processing plants. Additionally, in some food processing operations, contact with the product itself can lead to breakdown in the material used to fabricate the gloves. This occurs in chicken processing plants for example. This breakdown or damage can result in a piece of a glove breaking off the same and being inadvertently incorporated into the product being processed.
Obviously, because the end product is food that is destined for human consumption, it is important that any pieces of gloves that may accidentally find their way into the product are quickly and easily identified and removed therefrom. It is also important from the aspect of running a food processing plant that management be able to quickly and easily identify areas or steps of their process where glove damage occurs most frequently, so that preventative and corrective action in these particular areas or steps of the process may be implemented.
Furthermore, if for some reason a piece of a glove is missed at the food processing plant and makes its way into the end product sold to a consumer, it is important to be able to identify the processing plant where the glove was damaged so that they may be notified of the issue. Obviously, because the piece from the damaged glove is, at this time, at a location remote from where the product was processed, it would be extremely helpful to the food processing plant to somehow be able to identify the area or process in the processing plant where the glove was damaged.
There is therefore a need in the art for a method and system for addressing this issue.